Draft-gear.



E. T. KRAKA.

V DRAFT GEAR. APPLIUATION HLED SEPT. 2.6, 190s.

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DRAFT GEAR.

APPLIOATIDH Film1) SEPT. as, moa

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H. T. KRAKA.

DRAFT GEAR.

APLIOATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1908.

Paname@ oet. 12,1909.

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INVENTOR HA. mi...

.H`.T.KRAKAU.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA Z6, 1908.

936,547. Patented 00t.12,1909.

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DRAFT GEAR.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT.26,1908.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

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H. T. KRAKAU.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1908.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909. 7 SHEETS-smh '1,

wlTNEssES UNITED s'rnrns retentir raton,

HARRY T. KRAKAU, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSG-NOR T THENATIONAL MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, 01H10, A COEPORTION OF OHIO.

DRAFT-GEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

Original application led March 24, 1908, Serial No. 422,889. Divided and this application filed September 28, 1908'. Serial No. 454,888.

To all who/m 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY T. KRAKAU, of'

Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of hio, have invented a new and use ful Draft-Gear, of which the following 1s a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan View of the draft gear; Fi 2v is a vertical longitudinal section on the line H-II of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a plan 'viewl on a larger scale, showing the guiding connections -between theswinging draft gear and the'truck, and also showing the details of the platform buffer and its application to the car body; Fig. eis a .vertical longitudinal section of parts shown in Fig. 2,.

but on a larger scale; Fig. 5 is a plan View of the face piece of the buffer; Fig. 6 is Ia plan view of the section which forms the guide and spring-holder for the rear end of the buffer; Fig. 7 is a frontjiew of the parts shown in Fig. 6; Figs. 8, 9, 10 and ,1l are diagram views illustrating the operation .of my device when the cars as they meet are in various relative showing the relative motions of the trucks,

coupler and buffers, and the manner in which the buffersl adjust themselves with their faces in contact throughout their breadth.

' This application is a division of an application filed by me on March 24, 1908, Serial Number 422,889, patented September 29, 190s, Number 900,027. Y

My invention provides a draft gear in which the coupler is capable of swinging laterally through a wide range and is connected to the truck so as to be guided thereby posi` tively into proper position.

The device can be used vwith success on passenger cars, and canralso be applied to draft gears in a manner which will adapt them for kuse not only with passenger cars, but also with much greaterv efliciency than heretofore on freight car equipments. The advantages of such laterally swinging draft gears are that they relieve the cars from the great strain to which they are subjected when provided with laterally fixed draft lgears, and also remove strain from the wheels, axles and track, and thus increase the durability ofthe cars and effect a very considerable economy in the power required to move the trains.

o'sitions on curves, andv way track.

The drawings show the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will bc under` stood by those skilled in the art that the parts and theirr` arrangement may be modified in many Ways and that some of the parts of the apparatus may be applied to usc without the others.

ln-the drawings, 2 represents the car coupler which has a long rear extension preferl` ably made in the form ,of a shank 3, which terminates at the end in a socket 4, for a vcr` tical pivot pin For convenience, I prefer to make the colipl'er shank in two parts. 3 and 3, therczir portion 3 being provided with the socket or pin hole e, andy being forked at its forward end so as to fit the sides of the forward portion 3a. The socket Lflits within a yoke 6 to which'it is attached by the pivot-pin 5, and the yoke is mounted between draft-irons 7,'7, followers 8 being set crosswise within the yoke and adapted to bear against stopsf) on the irons. A spring or springs l() are interposed'between the followers and with the followers constitutes the draft rigging. Any suitable kind of spring liggmg may be employed.

lVhen the car is in service, the coupler and its shank will turn radially on the axis of the pin 5, being guided by means described below, so that it will at all times be in approximately the central portion of the rail- The`yoke, however, does not turn, but remains in the longitudinal axis of the car, and as the coupler is subjected to the pressure of buffng and draft, the fon' ward follower will be forced back against the spring or the rear followerdrawn forward against the spring as the case may be, the forward stops 9 resisting the force of draft and the rear stops 9 resisting the force of builing.

To guide the coupler shank and to hold it substantially at the center of the track, l provide it with guiding-rods shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which are made with telescopically arranged sections having interposed springs 11. 1 ttheir rear ends these ,rods are connected by ball-and-Socket joints l2, to brackets 13, at the ends of the truck, and at their forward ends the rods are connected by balland-socket joints 14C with an elbow lever or like connection l5, mounted at the middle Wardly from the coupler shank and is pref- .erably connected therewith by a pad 17 and shank in such manner as to permit an iiibolts 18. The elbow lever connectsthe guiding rods to the coupler shank in such manner that tension exerted upon it on either side will turn it and keep its arm on the other .side in the pro er line, and the balland-socket joints a ord flexibility to the` parts.

The drawings show the application of my` invention to passenger cars, and therefore, platform buffers are provided which are constructed in accordance with my invention, so that they will move laterally with the coup- 1er shank and thus will be maintained in engagement with each other in all positions of the car. The platform buffer consists of three parts, a forward part or face piece 19, shown in detail in F ig. 5, with a straight face and a rearwardly projecting shank 19', I

4against its draft springs 10, as explained below, the inner coil will force the face of the buffer forward and will keep the oposing buffers in close contact, thus preventing an intervening gap.

The rear spring ease 21, shown in detail in Figs. 4, 6 and 7, has a curved and flanged end portion 24, which lits upon a correspondingly curved segment 25, the front ofwhich is preferably of T-shapein cross section, andthe curvature such that its center will be substantially coincident with the pivotal'axis of the coupler shank. Its body is secured to the end-sill 2G or other part of the car frame. The buffer face is so mount- 'ed as to be maintained atbright angles to the shank of the coupler, this being accomplished preferably by making the buffer face rigid with respect to lateral motion in its connection with its shank and spring cases, so that it is substantially incapable of rocking or rotating on its shaft, and is thus held at right anUles to the shank of the coupler.

The buffer is engaged with the coupler ydependent relative longitudinal motion of these parts to a limited extent, and so as.

to cause them to move laterally together. Thisengagement is made by pins or projeetions on one of these parts, litting within longitudinally slotted or elongated sockets on the other part, one pair of these engaging devices being at the rear of the buffer, and preferably as near to its guiding segment as possible, and the other being placed at a forward point, so that by applying lateral motion to thi, buffer a-t front and back polnts simultaneously, it is moved laterally with the coupler with as little friction and fect, a floating member which has its rear bearing on a curved and extended surface at the end sill of the ear frame, and transmits t-he stresses of bufing to the end sill in a straight line in every position in which it may be carried by the coupler. :The strains are thus distributed on theA car frame in a most advantageous manner. The buer by bearing at its rear end against the end sill of the ear frame, instead of near the forward end of the buffer on the front of the platform, creates a minimum of'friction on its bearing to be overcome in its lateral movement.

The engaging members of the buffer and coupler which I show in the drawing, consist of a forward pin 27, secured to a pad 28, on the coupler shank, and fitting within an inverted and elonvated socket 29, on the section 2() of the buffer. This device serves also as a stop to prevent longitudinal removal of the buffer. The rear engaging member is constituted by a downwardly projecting pin 30 on the part 24, fitting within a socket 3l, secured by a pad 32 to the coupler shank. This pin 30 is preferably placed directly under the segment 25, so as to insure the proper sliding motion of the buffer on the segment without danger of cramping, and the sockets 29 and 30 are preferably made only a little wider than the diameter of the pins, so that they will not allow independent lateral movement of the parts, but will permit independent longitudinal movement. The clearance for the forward pin 27 in Vits socket 29 is, however, preferably slight, so that if during builing there is any tendency for the buffers to.. move sidewise and allow the couplers to buckle, such buckl ing tendency will be restrained by the action of the couplers locked together, because the engaging devices prevent the couplers from pulling away from their respective buffers. As long as the buffers are thus held in engagement theyI cannot move sidewise relativel to each other. Thetendeney tobuckle is 1i rewise prevented bythe/action of the buffers o'n eachother. The buffer-has a wide buiing face which is alwaysvflield'rigidly' at right angles to thelongitudinal `axis of its own shank and to that of the' coupler, because the buffer is not provided with ordinary springs, one on eitherside o f -th'ebulfer,

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which allow one side to be compressedevenrl-Z though the other side may notbe, but it isprovided with a shank which is integral withthe bufting face and which acts upon one central sprin-n .-.'hanism. For this reason, so long as buffers are in contact and under bulfing strain, their Shanks can not get out of line with each other, and, as the cars are pushed over the varying curvature of the track, they will force each other laterally on their respective car bodies and` thus maintain their shanks in thesame line. As each buffer engages its coupler, and one is thus prevented from moving laterally without, or forced to move laterally with the other, the couplers will beheld in line also and prevented `from buckling. This action of the buffers on each other assists the truck connections in moving the couplers laterally when the curvature of the track changes. During batting strains, when there may be more or less friction between the rear end of the buffer` and its bearing on the car frame it is important that the increased resistance to lateral movement thus produced should truck connections, but, be overcome by the 'action of the buffers themselves.

In Figs. 8 to 1l, I illustrate the mode by which the car coupler is guided to substantially the center of the track under all ordi- -nary conditions. This is done by proper correlation of the point F, where the draft gear is pivoted t-o the car body, the point E at which the guiding rods are'connected to the draft gear, and the length of the draft gear itself; that is tosay, the distance between the pivotal point and the coupler point` (a tei'm which may be used to define lthe point A, where the longitudinal center@ line of the coupler intersects the inner face of the outer arm of its knuckle, or the point' ofpulling contact between two interlocked vknuckles). To vdetermine these points, I tix the pivotal point 5 arbitrarily at a short dis 40 tance in advance of the bolster. Then hav- :ing located the coupling point A at a point at the 'center of the track when the car ison a curve, I locate the point E :as approximately the point where a straight line be- Vtween the points F and A intersects the line B-B, which is the line perpendicular to the truck at its center. The point at which these two lines will intersect is dependent upon the lengthof the draft gear. `I may also determine these points by locating first the point E and then locating the point F (the pivotal point of the. draft gear) at the point where the line between A' and E intersects the line CHD which is the center line of the car frame; or I maylocate the points F and E first and then, drawing a straight line therethrough, locate the point A where that line intersects the center line of the curved track. .This will determine the necessary length of draft gear when the points F and E are first located,

Owing to the extent to which the car coupler projects .beyond the center of the truclnpjhe coupler will'not necessarily be not increase the work to be done by the,

moment when the wheels of thc truck reach the beginning of the'curve; and inaccuracy of, guiding to a slight extent is also apt to occur by reason of the gage or clearance between 'the flanges of the wheels and the rails la of the track. Notwithstanding these factors/ of inaccuracy, however, the coupler in my device is guided substantially to the center of the track under all' conditions, by reason of the action of the buffers 19. When two opposingears meet each other, the faces of forcing the buffers laterally until their faces make contact throughout their breadth, and will thus force the couplers into exact alinenient and into normal position at the center ofthe track, and will hold theni in that po stion.

As the buffers have considerable lateral ,motion during the passage of the cars around curves, it is desirable to provide iexible hand-rails between which the passengers can walk from one car to the next. I prefer to use the means invented by iue-and shown in Figs. 2, 8 and 11.' I employ upright posts 33, 34, the rear post being. fixed to the car body'and the forward post being fixed to the buffer section 19. These posts are connected by jointed rail sections 35, 36 and 37, the horizontal sections 35 being swiveled on the upper ends of the posts, the vertical sections 36 being pivoted to the ends of the sections 35 and depending therefrom, and the section 37 connectingthe ends of the sections 3G. The necessary lateral motion of these jointed rails is afforded by the swiveling of the horizontal sections 35, and the elongation of the rails is provided for by the jointed sections .36 and 37, but they are laterally inflexible. The manner of operation when in use is shown in diagram in Figs. 8 and 1l.

For .the purpose of operating the lock of the coupler, I employ a hollow post 58, which is mounted on the buffer section 19, and has a vertical shaft 39, extending through it. This shaft has. at its upper end. an operating lever 40, and at its lower end a crank 41, for attachment to the -coupler lock mechanism so that as the shaft nioves with the coupler and buffer in their lateral travel, it will always be in proper position for successful operation.

My invention also adords means for the use of safety chains and rods, by which the cars are connected so that in the event of breaking' of the couplers the cars will not directed to the center of the track at the l part. For this purpose, I employ rods 42, connected at their rearends to lugs 4Q on the section 21 of the buffer and thence extending forwardly and terminating just back of the face of the buler, the safetychains 44 bein attached 4to thel ends of the rods. This a' ords `an attachment for the safety chains-Which the lateral movement of the ends 'of the/car bodies will not disturb. It will be noticed that the platform of the car is provided with 'a projecting fixedcoverplate 45, v which servesas an a ron't'o'cover the gap between the'top of t e buffer and the platform on which the passengers ste as they pass from one car to the next. This plate in my device is made sufficiently wide to afford a cover for the buffer in its most extreme lateral positions, and is preferably curved substantially concentrically with the' pivotal point of the coupler. My buffer is relatively narrow, and the passengers can step over the center of the buffer, no matter how muchit is swung to one side.

The buffer is.provided` with a carry-iron 46, and the coupler with an independent carry-iron 47.

1. The combination of a radially movable coupler, guiding connections with the truck whereby the coupler is automatically ided substantially to the center of the trac into position for couplinnr with another car, and means associated with the 'coupler to engage a corresponding means associated with the coupler of another car to automatically hold the couplers in alinement after they i, are coupled and reinforcing the action o he gui ing connections7 substantially as @tdescribed. 'L

2. The combination of a radially movable coupler, guiding connections withv the truck whereby the coupler is automati ally guided.

substantially to the center of t l' Atrackinto position for coupling with anotgiler car, and a buffer engaged by the coupler` llnd adapted to engage the buffer of another car to automatically hold the couplers in alinement after'they are lcoupled andto reinforce the.

action ofthe guiding connections.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 

